Transnet board chairman Popo Molefe has warned that a "long list" of employees can be suspended or confronted with criminal charges, with the possibility of reclaiming recovered funds from the company.
"We are certainly looking for more people," said Molefe, after meeting Parliament's standing committee for public accounts (Scopa).
This week, three executives from Transnet, including CEO Siyabonga Gama, received suspension notices in response to investigations that may have exposed misconduct
"That was just a start – the list is long. company, but we will pursue them and possibly sue if it is established that there were criminal intentions, "said Molefe.
Molefe said that the Scopa hearing provided some "scary disclosures of which the board was unaware," including
what he called "blatant disregard by management for their responsibility to the company".
"There is also a degree of intimidating staff, it is very frightening."
"That kind of environment causes unrestrained corruption and theft," he added.
Qualified accounts
The Scopa hearing – intended to determine the depth of financial mismanagement at the company – detailed cases of high level financial mismanagement, neglect of the purchasing process and questionable departure from the tender processes that are used to plunder the organization.
The hearing is because Transnet will announce its financial statements on Monday. will demonstrate that it has obtained a qualified audit.
The results also show that irregular and wasteful expenses have increased from R600m in 2016/17 to more than R8.1bn in 2017/18.
The notifications of suspension for Gama; Thamsanqa Jiyane, Chief Advanced Manufacturing Officer; and Supply Chain Manager Lindiwe Mdetshe, came in response to the publication of reports by Werkmans Advocaten and MNS Advocaten, who questioned problems of financial misconduct at Transnet.
The misconduct relates to violations in terms of tendering, as well as the Constitution and other legislation including the Companies Act and the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
The executives are given until Monday to justify why they should not be suspended.
Gama attended the Scopa hearing.
& # 39; Act as syndicates & # 39;
During the meeting, Molefe complained that the new board did not receive the cooperation it needed from the management of Transnet when it came to eradicating corruption and mismanagement.
"We do not get the cooperation from management, they act deliberately as syndicates, they seem to have sworn to secrecy," he said, swearing that the board would hit the bottom of any financial institution.
Scopa chairman Themba Godi said that qualified accounts have significant implications, since the company has large debts.
"It is a violation of the conditions for their lenders," he said.
"It also poses a risk of a standard, and when that happens, they will most likely find a bailout, which is money that we do not have as a country," he said.
Board member Dimakatso Matshoga told the meeting that the board had met creditors to assure them that the company would be able to meet its borrowing obligations.
Scopa members were also not satisfied with the decision of the entity of the state to move its offices from the iconic Carlton Center in the center of Johannesburg to a newly rented building north
The company said the move was intended to curb the maintenance costs for the 50-storey building, which will be renovated for an estimated three-year period.
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